Blog Wiki:Blogger's Code of Conduct
< back to Blogging Wikia main page The Blogger's Code of Conduct We celebrate the blogosphere because it embraces frank and open conversation. Sometimes frankness requires a lack of civility. We present this Blogger Code of Conduct in hopes that it helps create a culture that encourages both personal expression and constructive conversation. One can disagree without being disagreeable. 1. We take responsibility for our own words and reserve the right to restrict comments on our blog that do not conform to our standards. We are committed to the "Civility Enforced" standard: we strive to post high quality, acceptable content, and we will delete unacceptable comments. We define unacceptable comments as anything included or linked to that: * is being used to abuse, harass, stalk, or threaten others * is libelous or knowingly false * infringes upon any copyright, trademark or trade secret of any third party. (If you quote or excerpt someone's content, it is your responsibility to provide proper attribution to the original author. For a clear definition of proper attribution and fair use, please see The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Legal Guide for Bloggers.) * violates an obligation of confidentiality * violates the privacy of others We define and determine what is "unacceptable content" on a case-by-case basis, and our definitions are not limited to this list. If we delete a comment or link, we will say so and explain why. reserve the right to change these standards at any time with no notice. 2. We won't say anything online that we wouldn't say in person. Unless we are trying to protect a confidential source, in which case, we may omit certain private details or otherwise obfuscate the source of the information. Unless in real life you would face physical intimidation, whereas online you could avoid it. There is a basic understanding for freedom as well -- your right to swing your fist ends where someone else's nose begins. We must be as responsible and civil we are in the real world. And for criminals in virtual world, well that's a real law enforcement issue. But as civilised citizens we should follow some rules. 3. If tensions escalate, we will connect privately before we respond publicly. When we encounter conflicts and misrepresentation in the blogosphere, we make every effort to talk privately and directly to the person(s) involved--or find an intermediary who can do so--before we publish any posts or comments about the issue. Bloggers are encouraged to engage in online mediation of unresolved disputes. Mediate.com will provide mediators. 4. When we believe someone is unfairly attacking another, we will take considered action. When someone who is publishing comments or blog postings that are offensive, we'll tell them so (privately, if possible) and ask them to publicly make amends, unless it is considered that doing so will only inflame or worsen the situation. If those published comments could be construed as a threat or of an illegal nature, and the perpetrator doesn't withdraw them and apologize, we will cooperate with local law enforcement regarding those comments and/or postings. Comments or posts that are deemed offensive will result in a request - private, if possible - that the commenter or poster make public amends, if practical. If those published comments could reasonably be viewed as illegal (threat or otherwise), we will report the comments and commenter to police. This is very important to build a civil online society where people feel free and protected as we feel in real world by our neighbours. While the doctrine of 'agree to disagree' applies, we must build a trust among each other. 5. We do not allow pseudonymous comments, but will allow anonymous ones. We require commenters to supply a valid email address or OpenID before they can post, though we allow commenters to identify themselves as anonymous, rather than use their real name, which is the difference between pseudonymous and anonymous. We can always trace someone pseudonym. (For discussion on this please visit the talk page.) 6. We ignore the trolls. We prefer not to respond to nasty comments about us or our blog, as long as they don't veer into abuse or libel. We believe that feeding the trolls only encourages them -- "I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it. (George Bernard Shaw)" Ignoring public attacks is often the best way to contain them. 7. We encourage blog hosts to enforce more vigorously their terms of service. When bloggers engage in such flagrantly abusive behavior as creating impersonating sites to harass other bloggers they should take responsibility for their clients' behavior. See Also * Alternate Code of Conduct - another proposed code of conduct for bloggers, based on the Gentoo Linux code of conduct. More concise and based on human action than technological implementation. * MilBlogs Rules of Engagement - drafted May 2005, updated April 2007. Translations * Bloggerský kódex správania sa - Slovak translation (as of April 12, 2007) * Code de conduite pour la blogosphère - Full French translation (as of April 12, 2007) * Code de conduite des blogueurs - French translation (as of April 12, 2007) * http://lindriago.wordpress.com/2007/04/12/%c2%bfun-codigo-de-conducta-para-bloggers/ - Traduccion al español (12 de abril, 2007) * Código de Conduta para Blogueiros em Português - Portuguese translation (12 de abril de 2007) * "Verhaltenskodex für Blogger" als deutsche Übersetzung (14.04.2007) (German Translation). External references * Tim O'Reilly's original post calling for guidelines (2007-03-31) * Tim O'Reilly's first draft of these guidelines (2007-04-08) * Tim O'Reilly's take on reactions to the first draft (2007-04-11) * Blogher Community Guidelines * Yehuda's Blogger Code of Ethics - Posted a week or two before the Kathy Sierra incident. * Desirable Roasted Coffee Code of Blogging Ethics - from December 2004. * Nethic Charter, a Code of Conduct for bloggers - The Associated Humans, Feb. 2006, Charter adopted by French political parties. External links *Blogger's Code of Conduct